The training of trainers to teach their community members how to jointly address crises together was held in Kyiv 

On October 27-29, Kyiv hosted the Train the Trainer’s first experimental training on cross-sectoral crisis simulation exercises for future experts, led by qualified instructors from Estonia and Ukraine. Project participants mastered crisis management skills and explored opportunities for cooperation in their region.

It was discussed within the BrainHub country’s main discussion platform framework at the Media Center Ukraine – Ukrinform. 

“We launched the Resilient Ukraine program to support change agents in developing this community and region-based resilience. These were exercises in multi-sectoral crisis management,” explained Dmitri Teperik, Resilient Ukraine program director within which the project is being implemented.

In turn, Ivan Vartovnyk, the Resilient Ukraine program project coordinator, and the Train the Trainers project expert noted that the project focuses on regional and local levels.

“It is at the local level that they know the domestic issue context best, what are vulnerabilities, where they still have a bit of growing up to do, and what, on the contrary, their strengths are. The format of the training is an experiment in a good way, because not only do Estonian and Ukrainian experts share their experience, but they also learn from the participants. That is, feedback was given on what can be improved, and the participants have advanced practical experience on how to overcome crisis situations or how to better address certain problems,” he said.

As explained by Ivan Vartovnyk, the simulation training is based on a crisis simulation scenario. An artificial but safe learning environment is created for the exercise so that participants feel comfortable working through this scenario and crisis management. According to him, the crisis itself is multifactorial, multi-vector, and it contains both a conditional crisis situation and certain things that can be prevented.

“Just like in real life, there is not one, but many specific problems are being solved, because there are many challenges, many obstacles, and the participants are trying to learn that one structure alone cannot solve the crisis on its own. They need to interact, delegate negotiate, etc. In fact, their main goal in a conditional situation is to provide recommendations on how to overcome the odds with minimal losses, minimize the damage that has already been done and the risks that may arise from this situation,” he explained.

For her part, Yana Boiko, head of the School of Mediapatriots NGO, the project co-partner, noted that 16 participants from Dnipro and Odesa regions were involved in the training. The NGOs, education, the State Emergency Service, the police, and local government representatives were among the participants. 

The training in different regions and cities of Ukraine is expected to be conducted in the near term. In addition, in the future, the organizers want to hold such training in Crimea.

BrainHub is the country’s main discussion platform created by the Media Center Ukraine – Ukrinform. It brings together experts from the state and civil society sectors. BrainHub hosts intellectual discussions around the issues of the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine. It’s the birthplace of the best ideas that will become the foundation for the road map of Ukraine’s reconstruction in all sectors: economy, infrastructure, education, agriculture, security, digital, etc.

Read more: https://mediacenter.org.ua/news